I've just about had enough with political spin regarding Tim Johnson's condition. Here we have a man who is in critical condition recovering from emergency brain surgery, and all anyone can talk about is the balance of the Senate if he should be unable to serve?
This AP title in particular is absolutely revolting: Senate back to 50-50 with Johnson out. As much as some people over at the AP would like to see that happen, they should be ashamed of themselves for penning that title.
Please, leave Tim Johnson and his family at peace until we find out more details on his condition.
Following the illegal 2003 redistricting of Texas, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez was ousted by fellow "Democrat" Henry Cueller - one of the most conservative Democrats in the House. Ciro tried to regain his old House seat earlier this year by taking on Cueller but lost badly in the primary.
After the Supreme Court ruled that the Texas redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act because the 23rd district was not representative of the Hispanic population that actually lived in the area (and thus made it much more Republican than it should have), the new 23rd district that the Court drew up included Ciro's home and much of his San Antonio base. This gave Ciro yet another chance in 2006. He forced the runoff election when incumbent Henry Bonilla could not quite get the required 50% to win outright on Nov. 7 (he got 49%), and in what is considered a pretty big upset, Ciro beat Bonilla badly - 54-46% - on Tuesday.
Ciro is a solid progressive and will likely hold on to the largely Hispanic district for many years.
Jane Harman was too cozy with the Bush Administration and Alcee Hastings had too much baggage, so Nancy Pelosi tapped Congressman Silver Reyes to head the important House Intelligence Committee.
Sounds like a politically sound move on her part - Pelosi will get the investigations that she and many others want of the administration while at the same time steering clear of controversy, something that would have come up if she picked Hastings, the only impeached federal judge in our nation's history.
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